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Sport
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
End of an era as McCaw retires Plans to become commercial helicopter pilot
n Reuters, Wellington Richie McCaw always knew the perfect moment to attack the breakdown, to make a tackle or complete a pass and the All Blacks skipper demonstrated his perfect sense of timing once again yesterday in announcing his retirement from rugby. McCaw, who walks away as one of the game’s all-time greats, ended his 14-year
CAREER IN NUMBERS 148
The most number of Tests by any player in rugby union history. His 131 wins are also a record
110
A world record number of matches as captain
132
The number of players to make their All Blacks debut since McCaw’s first Test in 2001
2
McCaw lost just two Tests on home soil of the 61 he played in New Zealand
89 3
McCaw’s win percentage as captain A hat-trick of World Player of the Year awards
England drop Bell for South Africa tour
n AFP, United Arab Emirates England have dropped under-performing batsman Ian Bell from their Test squad for the forthcoming tour of South Africa, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced yesterday. With 7,727 runs, Bell is the eighth-highest Test scorer in England’s history, but the 33-year-old has struggled for form of late and has scored only one Test century since July 2014. Batsmen Nick Compton and Gary Ballance both earn recalls, but Adil Rashid drops out. “Ian Bell has been an outstanding player for many years and undoubtedly still has plenty to offer England in the future,” national selector James Whitaker said in a statement on the ECB website. “It was clearly a difficult decision, but he has struggled for runs in recent series and we felt that it was the right time for him to take a break and spend time working on his game out of the spotlight.”
England Test squad
Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Nick Compton, Mark Footitt, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Samit Patel, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Chris Woakes. l
test career as the most capped player (148) and captain (110) in world rugby. The 34-year-old flanker won three World Rugby Player of the Year awards and led the All Blacks to successive World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015. McCaw’s announcement came a day after Jonah Lomu’s unexpected death at the age of 40 had rocked the rugby-mad country. McCaw paid tribute to the former All Blacks winger before confirming his widely expected decision. “I’ve been hugely privileged to do what I’ve done for so long, been in some great teams with some great men and what happened in the World Cup just been, everything falling into place was hugely rewarding,” McCaw told a news conference. “To finish on that note I think is pretty good. The last thing I ever wanted to do was limp to the end, both in form and as your body holding together. “Sitting here today, the body would say, ‘you could still play,’ so that means that I think I’ve got the timing right.” l
“In my opinion, he will go down not only as the greatest All Black of all time, but the greatest captain we have ever had and possibly the greatest player to have ever played the game in the modern era. To play 148 tests is something to be marvelled at on its own, particularly with the physical demands of the position he plays. But the more impressive thing about those 148 games is the quality of the performances he produced ... I can’t recall him ever playing a bad game.”
STEVE HANSEN (New Zealand coach) “Richie’s record speaks for itself, he is one of the all-time greats of our game and the greatest ever All Blacks captain. For 15 years he has been a highly-respected adversary for Australian teams and is a class individual and a tremendous competitor who is deeply admired by fans and his peers.”
BILL PULVER (Australian Rugby Union CEO) “You can just see the bruises, the scars that he wears. He came onto the scene a pretty fresh-faced young New Zealander and he finishes with such an outstanding record. I do think he’s the best rugby player of all time. He’s won more trophies and medals than any other player.”
PHIL WAUGH (Former Wallabies flanker) “Richie McCaw. One of the best ever rugby players. Hats off to an extraordinary career.”
CORNE KRIGE (Former Springboks flanker)